Now, staring at the lady in the red dress, I anxiously awaited Sera’s reaction. But first, Nate.
I didn’t answer when he knocked. My car was in the driveway, so he knew I was home. However, not getting any verbal confirmation, Nate would come inside—life checks were real in my world. I stayed quiet in the guest room, waiting for him to pass by on his way to the master before doubling back. He wandered by, calling my name with a note of panic until he’d reached the last room. Then his tone was filled with irritation.
Before he could bypass me again, I jumped into the hall, blocking his escape. I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my lips, and Nate didn’t hide his irritation at my game.
“Move, Bastian.” He could be pissed all he wanted to, that didn’t mean I had to give in to his mood.
I bounced back and forth from one foot to another, dancing like a boxer warming up for a fight. “Come on, Nate.” Smiling, I jabbed playfully at his stomach, trying to get him to engage.
Nate remained resolute, stone cold with eyes that never wavered. “I’ll hurt you if you don’t get the fuck out of my way.”
“Do what you have to do, but try not to hurt the hands.” I held them up to display their delicacy, but Nate just swatted them out of his face.
Nate folded his arms over his chest and stared me down with what would have been a frightening glare if I didn’t know the guy. “What do you want, Bastian?”
“For you to talk to me, forgive me for being a douche. An insensitive ass. Do I need to keep going?”
He groaned but didn’t move. I considered it progress.
“Come on, Nate, give me a break. I’m just coming back to the land of the living after a five-year hiatus. Cut me a little slack or fucking educate me in the ways of the civilized world. But don’t cut me out.”
He made direct eye contact. I’d gone back to bobbing and weaving, my hands in a fighting stance, when his irises darkened. I didn’t realize what was coming until it was too late, and by then, he’d landed a weight-bearing punch that knocked the wind out of me.
As soon as I regained the ability to breathe and the pain subsided, I recognized that I’d deserved it. The second punch was questionable, but I took it, too, gritting my teeth. I did not, however, attempt to retaliate. With my luck, we’d both end up on the floor, beating the shit out of each other. While I might be close to Nate in height, he had a solid fifty pounds on me and was built like a brick house. Thankfully, two blows were all he deemed necessary. He appeared satisfied and relaxed with a subtle smile.
“So what big news do you have?”
I had no idea how he knew anything. “Who said I have news?”
“Really, jackass? Just spill it and cut the crap.”
“Le Musée next week.” I couldn’t stop the widening grin. It took everything in me not to clap and jump up and down like a girl, but my man card took enough hits between being an artist and always having Nate at my side.
“As in Manhattan, Le Musée? Are you kidding?” Even my best friend knew how big this was, my friend, the art idiot.
“Yeah. I leave Tuesday.” I was excited, and I needed Nate’s support. “Come look at the piece I want to showcase. I haven’t shown it to anyone.” At that moment, I was glad Sera hadn’t seen it.
Nate knew what it meant when I’d hidden a piece. To share it with him first reconfirmed his place in my life and solidified who he was to me.
He followed me to the studio, and I stepped just inside the room as he hung out in the doorway. From his vantage point, she was the only thing leaning against the wall. Everything else had been moved away from her so I could study her in the light from the window.
“Wow.” His reaction was almost unintelligible, and had I not been listening for it, I would have missed it.
“Move closer. Allow your eyes to adjust.”
Nate moved in slowly, stopping a few feet from her. I watched, taking in his expression as it dawned on him there were hundreds, thousands of little shapes and illustrations. Then he moved closer, allowing himself to see the vignettes captured in each frame.
“Holy fuck, B. When did you do this? It’s incredible.”
This was the part where I got shy. I’d never learned how to accept compliments or praise in all these years. My cheeks got hot, reddening like an alcoholic’s. “I’ve been working on it for a while. I’m pretty stoked about it.”
He turned toward me, shock and awe written all over his face. “You should be. Your work has really evolved. It’s impressive. Why are you unsure about it?”
I shrugged. “The more I paint, the further away I get from my roots. I’m known for nudes, but nothing I’m producing even remotely resembles my older work. The female form is still my primary subject, but I feel the need to protect my subjects from prying eyes. Stupid, huh? Like they’re real people.”
“It’s only dumb to keep doing what you’ve always done when you should be doing something else. Don’t most artists go through periods or phases?”
“I guess so. It’s all pretty foreign to me, so I’m unsure. I think she’s beautiful, but what if the public doesn’t agree?”
“When did you start painting for the consumer, Bastian?”
Moments like these were the reason Nate was so important to me. He knew me when painting boobs was a phase everyone thought I would outgrow with maturity. He knew me when the phase evolved into real art, he knew me as people started to recognize my love of the female body, and through all of it, Nate had never wavered. He’d always been my biggest fan—sometimes I think even more so than Sylvie. Maybe it just seemed more significant because it went against the bro-code to brag about your best friend. It didn’t violate the wife bond. Even in high school, when Nate had been the popular jock, he had bragged about my art accomplishments and never shied away from public support. In a time when it wasn’t cool to hang out with an imaginative guy, Nate never faltered or left me out.
“Are you driving to New York alone?”
God, I hoped this didn’t start another battle. “No. Ferry was actually the one who got the call from Dubois asking if we could both come for a joint venture.”
“Is that normal?”
“No, but I’m not going to question it. Another artist was supposed to be featured, but for whatever reason, he’s not attending, and neither is his work. People are coming to the event expecting him, so it’s either going to go really good or really bad. My personal opinion, although no one has said it, is that the curator is hoping to appease his guests. He’s offering two hot commodities in exchange for the one who bailed. But that’s just speculation.”
“But of all the people they could have asked, for you and Ferry to be the ones…that’s pretty cool, right?” Thank God Nate was supportive.
I couldn’t handle any negativity along with the pressure of putting together a show this quickly. “I don’t care what their motivation was quite honestly. It’s a huge opportunity.” I hesitated to ask him, but I needed Nate with me for this. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for his answer to be no. “Any way you can fly in for the Saturday night showing?”
“Really?” Nate’s face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen in years. “I’d love to. Do you want to get Sera to come, too?” He didn’t really wait for an answer. “It might be hard to be in an unfamiliar city, exposing yourself to strangers.” He shrugged and looked a bit sheepish. “Having a couple friendly faces might ease that anxiety a bit.” Nate had a way of making his offer seem insignificant.
“That would be great.”
That was a huge step for Nate. Any attempt he made to spend time with Sera and Ferry, any chance to close the gap would only make my life easier in the long run.
Nate clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll call her after I look at flights and hotels.”
“She’s supposed to be here in a few minutes if you want to ask her then?”
He was still hesitant, but I wouldn’t push. Nate needed to extend his olive branch in his own way. “I
need to get going. Plus, I’d rather have some details when I talk to her.”
“You don’t have to run off, Nate.” I didn’t want him to leave, but short of begging him to stay, there was little I could do.
“I have a date.” He made some goofy ass-slapping motion, wagging his hips like he was riding a bitch doggy style.
I couldn’t help but laugh at him; some days, he was still super high school. Ironically, the man wasn’t a womanizer in the slightest; he never took advantage of females or had one-night stands. In fact, it was typically the other way around. Someday, he’d find one who wasn’t afraid to let him in.
I laughed and shook my head at my best friend’s antics. “Get the fuck out of here, man.”
“She’s... Wow, Bastian.” Sera looked to me for permission to move closer to the painting.
I gave Sera a nod of confirmation, and she proceeded to the canvas where she knelt on the floor. She leaned into the lady who stood so gracefully against the wall. Sera’s long, delicate fingers brushed against the paint’s texture. I watched as she scanned large portions of the canvas before narrowing in on a section, then searching again. There was so much to see that it wasn’t possible to do it all in one glance. Thousands of images created the portrait.
“You realize most people use computers to generate these types of images? Is painting a normal portraiture not challenging enough for you anymore?” Her eyes were alight with mirth when she turned toward me, and her voice was laced with playful sarcasm.
“I had no idea how it would turn out, or if it would. I’ve been working on it for weeks, but it would get so tedious that I had to walk away. It’s certainly not a technique I would want to use often, at least not of that magnitude.” I pointed toward the six-feet-tall canvas.
“I hear ya. Those little elephants seemed like a great idea when I started, but they’ve become a pain. I can only work on them for limited amounts of time before having to break it up with another project.”
“How are you coming?” I hadn’t asked her about her work in ages because it seemed all we ever focused on were the colors on her skin.
“Ugh. They’re beautiful. I love each and every one, but there are times I’ve wanted to just say, okay, I have enough of you little guys. I’m done. Then the next day, I feel guilty for not doing justice to the project and start working on them again.”
As Sera made her first pass to look at each piece, we chatted about her elephants. She didn’t pick out any pieces; she just inspected them all. On her second trip around my house, she pulled out a handful of paintings and set them aside. But just like her elephants and my lady in red, she took a break to focus on something else—dinner.
Before she even suggested Rulatta’s, I had to nip that selection. “I don’t think I can handle the café. I need something with some substance.”
“Substance, huh? Is that your way of saying meat and potatoes?”
“Yep.”
“There’s a new steakhouse downtown a block or so from Tara. Wanna try it?”
The restaurant was a little nicer than we had anticipated, and we had not dressed appropriately. Thankfully, the hostess didn’t say anything, and the table would hide our clothes once we sat down, anyhow.
Sera fidgeted with a piece of bread, trying not to be obvious as she took in the crowd in the restaurant, and I wondered if her familiarity with Rulatta’s was why she always wanted to go there. She needed a distraction, and the only thing I had to offer was Le Musée.
I tossed out the idea of her going with Nate to New York, and before I knew it, her hands were waving around as she talked about things to do in the city, how much fun she’d have shopping, and wanting to know if I thought she could talk Nate into making it an entire weekend and not just one day.
She chewed around a huge bite of her salad and stared at me with wide, excited eyes. “Do you think he’d go for it?”
“Probably. Nate’s usually up for almost anything, especially if it involves women and New York. You should call him, though. He has a date tonight but said he was going to look at hotels and flights. If you want to be a part of the process, you’ll need to catch him before he books anything.”
She stamped her feet on the floor and pumped her hands in front of her. “I can’t wait!”
Lifting her wine glass, Sera offered a toast. “To NYC and Le Musée.”
I was humbled and awed. “To NYC and Le Musée.”
The clinking of the glasses was like music to my ears. It’d been so long since I’d celebrated anything with another woman. It didn’t bring pain remembering Sylvie wasn’t there—a tinge of sadness, but it fled as quickly as it had appeared. And time slowed for the briefest of moments.
Sera helped choose nine additional paintings to pair with the lady in red, which she renamed, Black Clutch. She argued the other was a song title and didn’t showcase the right tone. But her reasoning didn’t stop there. She also believed the clutch was seemingly insignificant, just an accessory until someone got right on top of it—then the infinite details assaulted the viewer. It meant something to her, so I went with it.
I was horrible at these types of details. I never cataloged or named anything I worked on. I didn’t take pictures as I painted or even final images for that matter. Local galleries were aware of that nuance that came with working with me, and they all made concessions for it, but Le Musée didn’t make concessions. Thankfully, Sera seemed to enjoy it, and with that, she got the freedom to assign names to pictures, select what she thought went well together, and comment overall on things most people never saw because they weren’t involved in the backend part of the process.
“You better be glad I like you.” Another artist might be offended by her changes; personally, I didn’t care.
She turned to me. “Sunshine, you better be glad you’ve got me; otherwise, you’d be screwed. You suck at this.”
“I think you secretly enjoy my neediness.”
Her laughter subsided as she nodded. “Yeah, I guess a part of me does enjoy feeling needed.” Her eyes met mine.
There was a connection there. There was no denying we both felt it as she held my gaze just a second longer than necessary. Her soul tried to speak through her eyes, screaming at me, but she refused to acknowledge that verbally. The longing I saw was her need to serve—that was what made her submissive. It was also what made her want the connection to me. She needed to be appreciated for her effort. It was her nature, and despite what she said, that need wasn’t currently being met. The answer was there—unfortunately, she wasn’t asking me the question.
There was no point in addressing it since she’d deny it or change the subject, so I changed it myself. “What did you and Nate decide to do about New York?”
“I talked him into flying out on Thursday afternoon, coming home Sunday. That gives me Friday in the city to shop, a fantastic dinner with a hot guy on Friday night, and yes, Nate is treating me. Saturday, I plan to recover from my hot date on Friday with a massage and mani-pedi at the hotel before the gallery on Saturday. I figure I can break the bank in two days.”
“Does Nate know your plans for him?” I can’t help but laugh.
Nate would escort her through the city as if she belonged to him, take her to dinner, wine and dine her like a perfect gentleman. He’d hate doing it, but she’d never know it. And he’d do it because he knew I would want him to and because he would keep her safe for me.
“Of course! Said he’s happy to do it. He’s a liar, but I’ll take whatever I can get.” She winked at me. Sera was developing an affinity—albeit platonic, thank God—for Nate, which made me ecstatic. She couldn’t ask for a better friend.
“No resistance from your guy about going out of town with another man?” Calculated risk. Sometimes I had to take them to get to where I wanted to go, or in this case, the information I wanted to have. One day, I hoped to pose a question about this guy and have Sera tell me he wasn’t in her life anymore.
Today wasn’t that day.
“A little. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea.” She shrugged me off like it was unimportant.
“How’d you talk him into it?”
“I wouldn’t say I talked him into it, so much as he basically told me he didn’t care what I did. If I want to spend several days in a hotel in New York City with another man and look like a whore, that’s up to me.” Inhaling deeply, her chest rose noticeably before she released the air trapped in her lungs. “I reminded him that no one knew I was in a relationship anyhow, so I would hardly look like a tramp to anyone other than him. And if he knew me at all, he would know I’m loyal, even when he hasn’t been.” Sera refused to make eye contact, but I knew how hard that was for her to admit.
I decided not to force her to relive the situation. “Well, I’m glad you’re coming, and I’m sure you’ll have fun with Nate. I assure you, he’ll be on his best behavior, and no one will think anything other than you’re with a nice man.” I kissed her softly on the cheek as she attempted to placate me with a fake smile. “I wish I were going to be available to take you out, but it’s unlikely.”
“No worries. Nate promised to entertain me.”
“Oh, I’m sure he will.”
Sunday, we created shipping frames for my odd size pieces to protect them during travel. I wasn’t sure how we were going to get Black Clutch into the car, but Ferry assured me he would take care of packing the SUV. I just had to get them protected. It didn't sound like packing ten paintings would be that time consuming, but each one had a wooden frame built to house it with cardboard and protective padding inside the crate, not to mention careful wrapping of each piece in bubble wrap. I was sidetracked by bubble popping more than once. No matter how old I got, I couldn't resist. Sera popped me on the arm to realign my focus.
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